Star Trek: Spock's Fraternal Twin
by Basketballgirl Kaitlin
Summary: After visiting Altius VII to investigate a mysterious illness spreading throughout the city, Dr. McCoy drinks water from a river, causing him to become delirious and believes he's a Vulcan. Captain Kirk, Spock, and Scotty are then forced to find an anecdote, when Dr. McCoy refuses to give them the ingredients for one. (with Baby Julia McCoy)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

"Aye, sir. Mr. Spock showed me all the reports found on the planet. Those people keep getting ill, and I can't seem to figure out why. All readings say that there is not a single epidemic running throughout the planet's surface, and yet all the readings we've gotten from the ship say these people are ailing from something." Scotty reported. He was sitting at a table in a briefing room with second in command, Commander Spock, and across from them was Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise. The young captain had called a meeting with the top three in command to discuss what to do regarding a new report from Starfleet Command.

The planet of Altius VII was showing signs of its citizens growing sick and dying from some unknown ailment, but it could not be determined by several articles and readings found on the ship's computers, yet the readings that the ship was sensing in the planet's orbit showed that the people were indeed suffering from some sort of viral or bacterial ailment causing thousands and thousands of deaths. The Enterprise had been assigned to travel to Altius VII and to figure out what was going on.

Kirk's face grew puzzled and turned to his second in command. Hopefully, he thought, Spock would have an explanation. It was rare that the Vulcan did not know information on something.

"Spock, an explanation?" He asked.

"Whatever it is that is causing this ailment to the citizens on Altius VII, it must be so widely spread that its people are not capable of making a report to Starfleet Command regarding the ailment." The Vulcan answered.

"If that's true, then how did Starfleet Command get this information?"

"Another ship must have passed by and reported it, sir. If what Mr. Spock speculates is true, then Starfleet Command wouldn't have known about it in the first place," Scotty said.

"Any guesses on what this ailment might be?" Kirk questioned.

"I couldn't tell yah even if I wanted to, sir. I know about medicine as much as I know how to speak Vietnamese."

Kirk turned to Spock.

"Spock," he said.

"Unknown, Captain. There is simply not enough information regarding this matter. The readings the ship's sensors are picking up may detect an ailment running on the planet's surface, but it does not tell us what are the symptoms nor does it say where the ailment is coming from."

"The best person to ask would be Dr. McCoy, Captain. If anyone can give us an idea on what might be ailing these people, it's him, sir." Scotty commented.

"Yes, I suppose you're right, Mr. Scott. Where is he?" Kirk asked.

"If I were to speculate, Captain, he would more than likely be in his quarters. I do not believe his shift in Sickbay for another three hours, seven minutes, and 36.74 seconds," Spock said.

"His shift might have to be put on hold. Follow me, gentlemen."

Doing as told, Spock and Scotty followed from behind the Starfleet captain and made their way up to deck three to find their caring, yet abrasive Starfleet medical surgeon.

* * *

In a Starfleet officer's quarters, tiny five month old baby Julia McCoy sat on a bed with a blanket and a few toys she was playing with. She was wearing a white dress with a pink Starfleet insignia with a rattle in the middle placed on her left side at the top while wiggling her little feet. She picked up a plush, yellow duck and tried to figure out what to make him do.

Standing off on the right and standing in front of a mirror, Dr. Leonard McCoy, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise, was checking his uniform and hair, wanting to look presentable to go to his duties. He ran his hands on his shirt, attempting to smooth out any unwanted wrinkles in his work clothes. McCoy then looked at his reflection and started making a judgment on whether he needed more spiffing up to do or not. He was brought out of his thoughts, when he heard small coo noises coming from behind him.

McCoy turned around and smiled at his baby. He walked over to his bed, sat down gently, and faced Julia.

"What are you doing? Huh? What are you doing?" He cooed.

Julia looked at her father while chewing on one of her ducky's wings and smiled. She made a few coo noises in response.

McCoy grinned, then took his finger and gently rubbed it under Julia's little chin.

"You're such a good girl, did you know that?" He asked softly.

The little baby continued smiling and chewing on her ducky's wing. McCoy smiled at her, then leaned forward and gave Julia a little kiss on the side of her head. As he continued watching his daughter, the doors to McCoy's quarters opened, and Kirk, Spock, and Scotty made their way inside the decent sized living area. The captain and the engineer smiled, while Spock's face remained passive. There was something in his eyes, though, that resembled a bit of happiness. Julia was the only one that could ever bring some sort of emotion out of Spock, but McCoy had been the only one out of the entire crew to witness the Vulcan smiling at her.

"How's my littlest crew member doing today?" Kirk asked, with a grin.

McCoy chuckled.

"Smiling as usual," he said.

The Starfleet doctor got to his feet and made his way towards his co. workers and friends, then stopped and crossed his arms.

"What can I do for yah, Jim?" McCoy asked.

"Bones, the planet we are currently in orbit with, Altius VII, our ship's sensors are picking up that the people below are suffering from some type of illness, though none of our records report of any such thing to Starfleet Command." Kirk began.

McCoy raised his eyebrow, growing curious to this news.

"An undetected illness? What kind?"

"Unknown, Doctor. Our sensors can pick up there is, in fact, an ailment among the Altians, but what it is and where its source is coming from is incoherent." Spock responded.

"Dr. McCoy, it's the strangest thing I've ever seen in me entire life. There is not a single record in our computers reporting an epidemic on Altius VII, yet our ship's reading of the planet are picking up several life forms suffering from something." Scotty added.

"We were wondering if you had any sort of idea on what the cause might be," Kirk said, watching his CMO carefully.

"Can the ship sense what kind of illness it might be? Fungal, bacterial, viral…" Spock cut the country doctor off.

"Negative, Doctor. All we know is what we have just told you."

McCoy stood there, pursing his lips, his mind trying to think of some sort of disease or sickness that could cause such a predicament as the one they were currently dealing with. A disease that has not been reported to Starfleet Command, yet it's detectable by the ship's readings of the planet's current condition.

"I can't exactly tell yah anything unless I know more information about this illness your speaking of. Either that, or I need to examine someone on the planet that's ailing from it. I'm sorry, Jim. I wish I could tell you more," the doctor said sincerely.

"It's alright, Bones." Kirk sighed, then turned to face all three of his friends. "Looks like we have no choice but to beam down and investigate ourselves."

McCoy turned to Scotty.

"Scotty, I'd like you to stay up here and take care of Julia. Lord knows if this illness is contagious or not, and I won't risk my daughter being exposed to it," he said.

"Aye, Dr. McCoy. Julia will be in good hands, I assure yah." The engineer answered.

"Spock, Dr. McCoy, follow me. Grab your tricorders and phasers, and we will beam down to the surface." Kirk ordered.

"Yes, Jim," McCoy said.

"Affirmative, Captain," Spock said.

The Starfleet surgeon turned around and made his way towards his bed, where Scotty was sitting next to little Julia. She looked up at her dad with something in her eyes saying she did not understand what was happening.

McCoy gently picked up Julia in his arms and held her close to him, while rocking her gently from side to side.

"Daddy's gotta go away for a little while, but I'll be back, I promise. Uncle Scotty's gonna take good care of you," he said softly.

Julia made a few coo noises, and McCoy rested his head gently on hers. He gave a kiss on the forehead, then handed her to Scotty. He watched her a little longer, then looked up at the engineer officer. His eyes held worry and a bit of fear knowing he may or may not come back.

Picking it up, Scotty nodded and gave a comforting smile.

"Don't sorry, Dr. McCoy. I'll take good care of her," he said gently.

The doctor smiled and nodded, then made his way behind Spock and Kirk. Soon enough, the three men left McCoy's quarters, leaving only Scotty and Julia behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy all beamed down onto the planet's surface into a city. It was not gigantic, but it was a decent enough size. There was a purple river that ran through the city, though none of them could see it within eyesight.

The buildings and skyscrapers were smaller than ones in New York City, but a bit taller than the ones in Chicago. The sky was a purplish gray, and the streets were awful quiet for normal city life. There were Altians wandering around carrying out daily routines, but it seemed far less busy than expected. It gave all three men a chill down their spines.

Kirk turned to his second in command on his right, then back to in front of him.

"Spock, scan the city's readings. Report anything you find suspicious or that seems out of the ordinary." He ordered.

"Yes, Captain," Spock said. The Vulcan turned on his tricorder and began scanning the readings that came in. While he did that, Kirk and McCoy conversed with one another.

"Bones, what do you think?"

"It seems to be just another city, Jim. Are you sure the ship's sensors are working right?"

"I had Scotty check them about seven times, and they were functioning properly each time."

"These people look fine, though."

"They may look fine, but _are_ they fine is the question were trying to answer."

McCoy pulled out his tricorder and started scanning the city for any signs of a viral or bacterial infection near by.

"Captain," Spock said.

Kirk took a few steps away from the doctor and slided his way up next to his second in command.

"Spock, what is it?" He asked.

"These readings my tricorder keeps picking up. It says that 75.647% of this population is infected with some sort of malady."

"What kind?"

"Unknown, Captain. Unless I am able to gain contact with an infected person, what symptoms and possible ailments can not be determined."

Kirk stood there and pursed his lips. He was frustrated with this little information his crew was receiving. There had to be a way to figure out what these people were suffering from, but unless they find someone who is sick, there was no way of gaining such information.

"Spock, there must be some other way to figure out what this sickness is. Is it viral, bacterial? Does it have a source where it's coming from?" He questioned the Vulcan.

"The illness does have a source, but where it comes from is undetectable at this time, Captain," Spock said calmly.

"Jim." McCoy called out.

The captain and Vulcan made their way towards the Starfleet surgeon with curiosity.

"Dr. McCoy, did you find something?" Kirk asked.

"This sickness. It's a bacterial kind of ailment. Over half of this entire city is infected with whatever it is."

Kirk was about to ask his CMO a question, when the shriek of a woman was heard nearby.

"Follow me. Put your phasers on stun." He ordered.

The three men followed the sounds of the scream and ran into some type of antique store. They found a woman banging on the wall crying and shrieking. There was another man at the cash register staring at his customer, wondering if he should attempt to intervene and stop her.

"Kill them! Kill them! They're everywhere, kill them! Kill them!" She screeched.

The three Starfleet officers ran in front of the stunned cashier and made their way towards the lady. Kirk grabbed her by the shoulders and turned around. He, Spock, and McCoy's jaws almost dropped, their eyes bugging out at the site they saw.

The lady, no more than late twenties, but looked much older than that, was pale skinned. There were dark spots beneath her eyes, as if she had not slept in days. Her eyes were clouded over and almost bloodshot, her dark hair hanging lifelessly down her shoulders. She almost seemed to look as if she were under the influence of some drug and lost in another world. Seeing the three men before her, she screamed louder and tried to release herself from Kirk's grasp.

"It's alright. You're alright. No one's here," he said calmly.

McCoy took out his tricorder and began scanning the lady.

"Get rid of them! Kill them! Kill them all!" She begged.

"Get rid of who? Who's them?" Kirk asked confused.

"They're everywhere! Help, kill them! Kill them please! Kill them!" She shrieked.

McCoy read the scans quickly and looked up at his commanding officer stunned.

"Jim, she's blind mad," he said softly.

"Of what?" Kirk asked.

"Her nervous system. It's like it's suffering from advanced staged schizophrenia, but ten times that level. On top of that, it looks like it's causing her severe physical pain that she isn't even realizing due to how far gone her mental state is."

Spock raised his eyebrow, keeping his eyes focused on the delusional woman.

"Fascinating," he said softly.

Kirk turned his attention back to the screaming lady and tried to hush her as much as possible.

"You're alright. You're alright, there's no one here that wants to hurt you." Kirk spoke gently.

The lady continued screaming and crying out for help. McCoy was eventually forced to give the lady a tranquilizer and soon enough became unconscious. Kirk gently lay her down on the ground and turned to his surgeon.

"Bones, can she be treated?" The captain asked.

"I don't know...I have never seen this kind of thing before. Almost the entire gray matter within her brain is gone. There's a dramatic increase in brain chemicals, such as dopamine, that are being produced by huge amounts per minute, and there's physical pain running throughout her entire body through nerves so excruciating to the point her mind can not even register it. It's practically invisible." McCoy answered.

"What do you mean her entire gray matter within her brain is gone?"

"It's as if something so intense inside her body is destroying all of that brain tissue completely. If it isn't stopped, she'll eventually slip into a coma after suffering an episode of tremendous pain and quickly die afterwards. By that point, it will be completely irreversible. It might even be irreversible _now_ at the current condition she's in."

Kirk turned around and gestured for Spock to follow him up towards the cashier. Dr. McCoy followed both of them, but his mind was running a hundred miles a minute, desperate to find or think of a cure or treatment that could delay or even stop the progression of whatever this illness was that was killing the Altians so rapidly.

The three officers approached the counter and looked at the man briefly. Immediately, they could tell that something was off about the man.

He was thin built, about 6'3", and had pasty white skin. He looked stiff, his eyes slightly glossed over with a coat of fog, and seemed to be staring at nothing. There were some dark circles around his eyes and seemed to be in another reality from the one he was currently living in.

Kirk flicked his eyes to his second in command quickly, then back to the cashier again.

"Spock, use your tricorder and scan him. Take careful notes on all biological functions," the captain said, his eyes never leaving sight of the man standing before him.

"Yes, Captain," the Vulcan said. Spock picked up his tricorder, turned it on, and began watching the screen, as the readings came in.

While that was happening, McCoy looked around the store for anything that might be of some use to him, when his eyes trailed off to the windows in front and spotted something peculiar.

In the middle of the city they were in, just a few feet down the street, was a huge water fountain in the square. The peculiar part was that the water was a bright shade of purple or magenta. He could not exactly tell from where he was currently standing and how far away it was from him.

McCoy turned to look at Kirk and Spock quickly to see if they were watching. They looked like they were too busy focused on the cashier and his odd like behavior. Seeing now eyes or attention on him, the old doctor silently made his way out of the store, turned in the direction of the water fountain, and began his trek toward his investigation scene.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Well, I'm posting two chapters today, because tomorrow I have to work from 2-8. (UGH! Hate working!) So, here's hoping you enjoy chapters 3 and 4 of this story! Read on! Reviews highly encouraged! :D

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

"Fascinating," Spock said, taking in all the readings.

"What is it?" Kirk asked, a bit on the edge. This whole situation and being on this planet was a bit on the apprehensive side of the spectrum, but managed to keep himself intact. He was Captain James Kirk of the USS Enterprise, after all. If he was not keeping his cool, then how did he expect his crew, besides Spock, to do the same thing?

"This man seems to be experiencing such high levels of physical pain that to his brain is almost unfathomable." The Vulcan answered.

"I don't understand. Explain."

"It's as if all of his pain sensors in his body have shut off and is numbing itself to withstand such pain. Like a coping mechanism has taken place in order for him to continue functioning in some way."

"So if his body has shut down all of his pain sensors in order to help him function, how come he won't speak or make the slightest bit of movement?"

"That's the other matter, Captain. It appears from my readings that this Altian is currently in a catatonic state."

"Catatonic, what's that?"

"Catatonic schizophrenia is a form of schizophrenia or catatonic states can be a symptom of general schizophrenia. It causes a person's motor functions to cease and remain in long periods of time in one position, completely unresponsive physically and verbally. It can sometimes even cause stiffness of muscles inside the body and lock them from moving even with force."

"Does the disease cause anything else to occur, Spock?"

"It can occasionally have a tendency to cause the ailing subject to experiencing strange, if not nightmarish, hallucinations and delusions. Sometimes even to the point of that subject committing violent or deadly crimes."

"Can it be fixed, Mr. Spock?"

"Unknown, Captain. The man appears to have a dramatic increase in levels of dopamine, a chemical hormone developed in the brain known to be a suspected cause of schizophrenia. Similarly to cancer cells, there are infected dopamine neurotransmitters that are multiplying and reproducing rapidly, spreading quickly throughout the entire cerebrum. It will eventually reach the cerebellum and medulla, cause the person to go into a coma, and death will follow fairly short afterwards."

"How long do you think we have before these people begin to…" Kirk paused, and was thankful for Spock knowing what he meant. He struggled with asking such a horrific question.

"The disease seems to progress fairly quickly. If I had to make an approximation, I would say about two to three weeks to complete its run throughout the entire neurosystem."

Kirk nodded and looked back at the man, when his eyes laid upon something on top of the counter.

A glass of what appeared to look like a purplish pink water contained within it. The glass appeared to be a little less than half full and had several drops of the substance on the inside of the glass, indicating it had been drank out of already probably several times.

"Spock," the captain said, pointing to the glass.

The Vulcan turned to where Kirk was pointing and saw the same thing, too.

"...scan it." Kirk ordered.

Spock followed his commands, took his tricorder out, and began scanning the glass and its contents carefully. The readings that were being picked up were surprising and more so shocking, if anything.

" _Very_ fascinating," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"What is it?" Kirk asked anxious.

"The water in this glass, Captain. It is as if the entire substance has been contaminated with these infected dopamine neurotransmitters."

"You think it might be the cause of the disease infecting the Altians?"

"It is a strong possibility, Captain."

"How did they get into the water, though? If I remember my chemistry, water is made purely from hydrogen and oxygen."

"Correct, Captain. The only explanation I can think of is that of a possible chemical spill coming from some sort of source here on this planet."

"But...where would a chemical source filled with infected dopamine neurotransmitters come from, Spock?"

" _That_ , Captain, I have yet to answer."

"Dr. McCoy, what are your speculations on the matter?"

No answer came.

"Dr. McCoy!" Kirk called. He and Spock both turned around to see the doctor was no where in sight. The young captain turned to his second in command. "Where did he go?"

"Unknown, Captain. He must have left while we were questioning the man at the cashier." The Vulcan answered.

"Then, if he isn't here, where did he go?"

Both turned to look outside the store window, when their eyes caught attention of something. The two officers made their way closer to the window and spotted a man dressed in a blue shirt and black pants sitting on a small stone wall surrounding a water fountain. He held something that looked like a cup or glass filled with a purplish pink liquid inside it. He was sniffing it at first, then began observing it. It was Dr. McCoy.

"Bones!" Kirk cried.

He stormed out of the store with Spock bring up the rear from behind. They had to get to McCoy before he decided to taste it, something they would _all_ dread of happening.

McCoy stared at the water briefly and looked back at his tricorder's readings. It was certainly water, but the color was off. It had the smell of water found in a pool, but no chlorine was detected in the substance.

The doctor frowned, perplexed with his findings. It made no sense to him. He knew that water was compounded from hydrogen and oxygen. That chlorine was added to the equation in pool water to kill bacteria and prevent harmful ones from infecting the swimming water. So, why was it that the water smelled like chlorine, yet had no chlorine molecules within it?

He decided to take a small sample of it and taste it. He was curious to see if it still tasted like regular water, or if it had the added taste of chlorine in it. He was drinking the small sample, when Kirk and Spock ran out of the store and spotted their chief medical officer.

"Bones! Stop!" The captain exclaimed.

Kirk had been a second too late. McCoy had finished the sample, looked at his best friend confused, then felt a stabbing sensation in his abdomen, back, and head. The old doctor grimaced, clutched the right side of his head tightly, then collapsed to the ground unconscious.

"Bones!" Kirk cried.

Both he and Spock hurried to McCoy, knelt down beside him, and Kirk held his friend in his arms. The captain turned to his second in command, fear emanating off of his body.

"Contact the ship and tell them to beam us up now. Tell them it's an emergency and medical staff need to be standing by in the transportation room!" He ordered.

Spock pulled out his communicator and flipped it open.

"Spock to Enterprise, Spock to Enterprise; prepare to beam three aboard. Have medical staff standing by in the transportation for one," the Vulcan said.

It was only seconds before the three Starfleet officers were beamed aboard and appeared again in the transportation room.

The doors opened, and a team of medics hurried in with a gurney and hurried to Kirk's side. They took McCoy and rushed him out of the room to Sickbay. The door opened again, and the medics nearly ran over Scotty, who made his way inside. His face was shocked and was trying to comprehend the situation taking place.

"What's going on, Captain?" The engineer asked anxiously.

"Dr. McCoy drank some contaminated water on the planet's surface. Mr. Spock and I suspect it to be the cause of the epidemic affecting the Altians." Kirk reported.

"Yah kidding!" Scotty gasped.

"We'll explain later. We must get to Sickbay and find out how Dr. McCoy is doing? Where's Julia?"

"I left her in Lieutenant Uhura's care. I wanted to know why EMS was ordered to come to the transportation room, sir."

"This way, gentlemen."

The three top in command hurried their way out of the transportation room and made their way quickly to Sickbay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Receiving the news that McCoy was in Sickbay in possible critical condition, Uhura had made her way quickly there and gave Julia back to Scotty, then returned to her station on the Bridge.

In the waiting room, Spock sat calmly in a chair watching Kirk pacing back and forth across the room, his mind racing with questions and anxiety. Scotty stood beside Spock's chair, holding Julia, and watching his commanding officer, wracking his brain out over his Chief Medical Officer.

"Captain, yah gonna drive yerself _mad_ , if yah keep that up," Scotty said, holding back his own anxiety. He, too, was worried for the old doctor. McCoy was a very close friend of his and went to visit the man once a day just to chit chat with one another or tell him what was bugging him or ask for advice on a certain situation or problem he was dealing with. If anything happened to the man, he would be at a loss at what to do in his life. To everyone on board, McCoy was the heart of the ship; without him, the Enterprise just could not function.

"It's been three hours. Why haven't I heard anything from them?" Kirk demanded, ignoring his third in command.

"I am sure that Dr. McCoy will be alright, Captain. Dr. M'Benga is a highly trained medic and knows how to perform his duties above expectations," Spock said calmly.

"I should have kept a careful eye on him. Whenever he comes across something peculiar, Bones always has to go figure out what it is."

"Yah couldn't have prevented any of this, sir. None of yah knew the water was contaminated, Captain...speaking of which, what did yah and Mr. Spock mean by, when you said that?" Scotty asked, perplexed.

"We saw a glass on a cashier's table in a store with purplish pink liquid inside of it. Spock scanned it with his tricorder and picked up readings of mutated dopamine neurotransmitters inside the water. We have reason to believe it is the cause of the mysterious ailment taking place with the Altians that has claimed so many lives already." Kirk answered.

"My God! Can yah cure it, Captain?"

Kirk shook his head slowly and struggled to speak.

"I don't know, Scotty. For the moment, the disease is terminal. An ailing person has an expected lifespan of two to four weeks before...well...you know." The captain refused to say the word. He would not believe McCoy might be sick and die from an unknown, incurable illness. He would search the entire galaxy for a cure if necessary. McCoy would not give up on him, had it been him instead, and he certainly was not giving up on the country doctor now.

Scotty stood there agape for a moment, then closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Oh, Dr. McCoy...if something happens to yah...I'm not sure _what_ I'll do, Captain," he said.

" _None_ of us do, Scotty," Kirk said softly, in response.

The engineer was about to say something, when Dr. Geoffrey M'Benga made his way out of the bio bed room and made his way towards the three Starfleet officers.

"How is he, Doctor?" Kirk asked anxiously.

Scotty swayed from side to side, rocking Julia to sleep, waiting with just as much anxiety as the captain was.

M'Benga face was a bit grim, a dark feeling surrounding the four men in the room that was not welcoming.

"I don't like that look on yer face, Dr. M'Benga," Scotty said, an uneasy feeling rising up from inside him.

"The water that Dr. McCoy drank from on the planet...was there some sort of bacteria infecting it?" The young second in command CMO asked.

Kirk swallowed a huge knot in his throat. He knew _immediately_ what was wrong.

"Mr. Spock and I had discovered that there were infected dopamine neurotransmitters living in the water sources down below...we were trying to figure out where the source of the leak of the infected neurotransmitters was coming from, when Dr. McCoy drank the sample he was observing." The captain quivered.

"Those neurotransmitters that you found in the water have run through his bloodstream and reached his nervous system. It's already infecting his gray matter significantly. It is deteriorating rapidly...it seems the disease the Altians are suffering from, it's affecting Dr. McCoy quicker than in them. I expect he'll only have a few days to live." M'Benga reported.

" _Days_?" Scotty gasped.

"A _week_ , if he's lucky."

"Can you help him, Dr. M'Benga? Some type of medicine that can fight off the disease's symptoms, until we can find a cure?" Kirk asked, hopeful there was something.

M'Benga closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. He let out a heavy breath, then turned his eyes back to his commander.

"I'm sorry, Captain Kirk...there's nothing I can do for him except give him medicine to help ease the acute pain he'll eventually experience from the disease's progression, as it gets worse."

"Does...does he know?" Kirk asked, fighting back his emotions from getting to him.

M'Benga nodded.

"Yes."

"How was his reaction to the news?"

"That's another thing I wanted to discuss...the symptoms Dr. McCoy is experiencing from the illness is... _concerning_."

Kirk raised an eyebrow. Now, he was confused.

"What's so concerning to you, Doctor?" He asked puzzled.

Scotty turned to look at Kirk briefly, then made his eyes back to M'Benga, he, too, now growing curious.

"Dr. McCoy is expressing highly bizarre behavior...there seems to be a lack of emotion he's feeling...almost Vulcan like," the young doctor said.

"You mean to say that Dr. McCoy is acting like a Vulcan?" Kirk asked, stunned at what he was hearing.

"Not acting... _is_ behaving like a Vulcan." M'Benga answered. "Eventually, it will turn into schizophrenia like symptoms to pure insanity, then he'll suffer from such severe pain, it will send him into a coma, and he'll shortly afterwards die."

"Can we see him?" The captain was shocked, stunned, anxious, and above all sad at what he was hearing. His best friend, his CMO, his old, country doctor was dying an aggressive and painful death from a quick paced, violent illness that had no known cure to it.

 _By that point, it will be completely irreversible. It might even be irreversible now at the current condition she's in_ , Dr. McCoy's voice rang through Kirk's mind. It made him cringe.

M'Benga nodded.

"He can be discharged from Sickbay, but I want him supervised at all times. I don't know how bad this disease will affect him, nor do I know _when_ it'll affect him," the young man said.

Kirk nodded, then he turned to Spock and Scotty.

"Come on, gentlemen. Our friend needs us," the captain said softly.

Spock and Scotty followed behind Kirk just as silently as he made his way into the room. Their best friend was dying, and there was no way of knowing whether he would make it or not.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** 'Where the heck have you been?!' No kidding, right? Sorry for not posting a new chapter these last couple of days. I've been struggling a bit with these depression spells I've been having a lot recently. I'm slowly working my way through it and finally starting to feel better and get back on track again. I'm gonna try to do some writing tonight or watch the Olympics. Distractions seem to be helping a lot. Also, I got a massage today, and it felt SO good! Alright, I'm gonna shut up now and let you people read in peace. Enjoy and keep smiling! :D

* * *

 **Chapter 5:**

Kirk, Spock, and Scotty made their way into the room and found McCoy standing at the foot of his bed. He was looking off in the left corner of the room, seeming to be deep in thought. He had the same look to his face Spock did, when thinking deep within his mind. Was he trying to figure out a way to cure the disease, they all wondered.

"...Bones?" Kirk asked hesitantly.

McCoy snapped out of his trance and turned to the captain, no expression to his face. All he did was simply stare back at his commanding officer and dear friend.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Jim," McCoy said, his voice bland. Nothing. No texture, no emotion... _nothing_.

Scotty swallowed a knot in his throat, fighting back from an emotional outburst. His heart broke watching his best friend suffer from such a disease. Knowing that he was dying from an aggressive and violent illness that was soon to become severe and even fatal. Unless he, Kirk, and Spock could find a cure for McCoy, their country doctor was sentenced to a painful, frightening, and unexpected destiny.

"Are yah sure, Dr. McCoy?" Scotty asked weary.

McCoy nodded.

"Yes, Scotty," he said dull.

"Bones," Kirk began, unsure of what to say or do. "Can there be something done about this illness to stop its progression for just a little longer? Long enough for us to find some type of medicine or cure for it?"

"Jim...what you're asking me of is illogical," the CMO said.

" _Illogical_!" Scotty exclaimed.

Spock raised an eyebrow, intrigued with what he was observing.

"Fascinating," the Vulcan said.

"Out of all the years I have known you, not ever have you claimed medicine and finding a cure illogical unless you have done everything in your power and knowledge you can think of." Kirk replied stern.

"The disease has no known cure, and it could be fatal at the point it's at now. If it's my time to die, then that's the way it's supposed to be." McCoy answered softly. There was no emotion to his tone. His gentle blue eyes seemed dull, his twinkle was gone. This illness was grasping a hold of the country doctor faster than expected, and it frightened the three Starfleet officers greatly.

"There's got to be _something_ , Bones! Some sort of medicine that can slow this disease down for just a little longer!"

"Unlikely, Jim."

"We're searching for one anyways! I refuse to stand here and watch you die!"

"Aye. Me neither, Dr. McCoy. Yer too important to us and this ship to just stand here and not do anything about it." Scotty added.

"You have friends, a _daughter_ who needs you, Bones. Your _daughter_ has no body without you! Don't you understand that?!" Kirk exclaimed.

McCoy had no reaction. He continued to just stare at his three friends in silence.

Kirk sighed, hung his head, then returned his eyes to the doctor.

"Come on, Bones...let's go," the captain said.

"Go where, Captain?" Spock asked puzzled.

"To find a cure for whatever this is that's ailing Dr. McCoy and save him and any other Altians that are dying from it!"

Spock raised his eyebrow, intrigued with his commanding officer's behavior, and followed him, Scotty, and McCoy out of Sickbay and to Kirk's quarters to begin their investigation.

* * *

Spock sat at Kirk's desk with a sleeping Julia in his arms, Scotty stood beside Kirk's bed with his arms behind his back, and McCoy was standing on his right watching the captain himself pace back and forth across his room.

"There must be some way of stopping this disease!" Kirk cried, deep in his thoughts. He had to save McCoy, but how could he do that when he had no other leads other than the fact that mutated dopamine neurotransmitters were the cause of it?

"What if we looked at cases of schizophrenia in past Starfleet officers, Captain? It ain't the same illness, but it might help us think of an idea for a cure seeing the different medicines used for treatment, sir," Scotty said, the idea coming to mind.

"It is a start, Captain. Mr. Scott makes a very logical, rational point." Spock commented.

"It could help us. It would certainly give us a starting point. We'd be able to go from there. What do you think, Bones?" Kirk asked.

There was no answer.

"Bones."

Nothing.

"Dr. McCoy!" Kirk turned around and swallowed a knot in his throat.

McCoy was standing there, but his skin color was off. His eyes looked clouded over, was frozen solid like ice, and looked like he was not even connected with reality anymore.

"Dr. McCoy, are yah alright, lad?" Scotty asked concerned.

The old doctor did not speak. He did not move.

"Bones, answer me!" Kirk pleaded.

McCoy closed his eyes, shook his head a few times, then opened his eyes again and turned them to his friend. He still had no expression of emotion on his face.

"You were talking to me, Jim," he said, in Spock's usual tone of voice.

"What do you think of Scotty's idea?" The captain questioned.

McCoy raised an eyebrow and looked at his friend blankly for a moment.

"I believe that I was not momentarily able to comprehend what you were saying, Jim. You'll have to repeat yourself."

"I said would looking back on past cases of schizophrenia in Starfleet officers and the medicines they received be of interest to you? To help us find a cure for your illness?"

"If you feel it will benefit people like me affected by this disease, yes. However, if nothing can be found, then it is illogical to try and change fate."

"Snap out of it, Bones! You're not a Vulcan! You are Dr. Leonard H. McCoy, Chief Medical Officer of the USS Enterprise. You save lives, not accept them to end! Can't you get that into your head, Bones?!"

McCoy did not answer him. All he did was simply look at the captain.

Kirk sighed and hung his head. He wondered how far gone his best friend was, at that moment. Was there even a _chance_ still at getting his old, country doctor back again? Would he ever have to put up with another disagreement between McCoy and Spock again? Would he ever get to ask McCoy for his advice again? He opened his eyes, then turned his attention to his second in command.

"Spock, you, Scotty, and Dr. McCoy will head for the break room and start looking at those medical cases. If anything gives you a lead, you are to act on that immediately and see if it gives us any answers. You are to maintain careful eye on Dr. McCoy at all time, understood?" He ordered.

"Affirmative, Captain," Spock said softly.

"Captain, if yah don't mind me asking, sir...what are _you_ going to do?" Scotty asked curiously.

"I will take Julia with me and Mr. Sulu down to the planet's surface to find the source of where the contamination of the water supply began and stop it before making anything worse down there." Kirk replied firmly.

"Yah mean yer taking sweet little Julia down onto a planet with an epidemic going on?"

"We're safe as long as no one drinks the water down there. If Dr. McCoy's medical condition changes, I want to be notified as soon as it happens. Do I make myself clear on that?"

"Yes, sir."

Kirk nodded, then turned to Spock. He made his way to his desk, leaned over, and gently picked up Julia in his arms. He made his way towards McCoy and looked into his eyes sadly.

"Wanna see your daughter for a minute, Bones?" He asked softly.

McCoy looked down at the little person in front of him. She was sound asleep, peacefully dreaming about something. She was content with the world and everything happening around her.

The old doctor reached out his hand and rubbed her tiny head gently. His eyes held some lost emotions of love and sadness, yet his face had remained expressionless. McCoy was still in there somewhere, but how far gone he was was yet to remain unknown.

"Her absence will be noted, Jim," was all he could say.

Sensing that his friend was somewhere inside fighting to resurface at that moment, Kirk gave a small smile.

"She'll come back soon, Bones," he said softly.

McCoy nodded, his face still blank.

Kirk turned back to Spock and Scotty and nodded.

The two Starfleet officers nodded back in response.

Knowing their duties, Kirk left his office to go find Sulu, and Spock, Scotty, and McCoy followed their commanding officer out of his quarters and made their way towards the break room. The investigation for a cure had begun.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

Kirk, with Julia in a back satchel, and Sulu materialized once reaching Altius VII's surface. The two men stayed nearby to one another and made their way through the city, searching for any clues or leads on where the disease had formed and a possible way to stop the source from emitting anymore mutated dopamine neurotransmitters into the water supply.

"Mr. Sulu," Kirk said. "Turn on your tricorder. Start scanning for where you get the strongest source of the infection coming from."

"Aye, sir," Sulu said, and followed orders.

While waiting for the lieutenant to pick up on some readings, Kirk wandered around nearby, looking for any clues or source of information on where the disease came from, how it formed, and why it formed: another ailing person, a doctor, a source of where the mutated dopamine transmitters were coming from, _anything_ that would give Dr. McCoy and many others the chance at surviving the illness that had now consumed them to a painful, long death.

"Captain," a familiar voice said.

Kirk turned to face Sulu and hurried to his side, careful not to jostle a sleeping Julia too much.

"What do you got, Mr. Sulu?" He asked.

"Sir, these readings I'm getting are bizarre. I was scanning this sewer drainage here on the street to see if I could learn more about the contaminated water you and Mr. Spock found earlier, but what my tricorder is picking up, however, is mind bottling."

"How is it mind bottling?"

"Captain, my tricorder says this isn't water that's coming out into the sewer."

Kirk raised his eyebrow and stared at the lieutenant for a long moment, trying to understand what he was saying.

"What do you mean 'it isn't water'?"

"That's just it, Captain. I don't _know_ what it is."

"Where's it coming from?"

"If these readings are correct, about a mile away from here."

"Follow those readings, Mr. Sulu. It could be a lead on where this illness came from."

"Aye, Captain."

Kirk and Sulu, racing against time, ran from where they were and followed the tricorder's readings to the source of the substance going into the sewer drains. Hopefully, they would once and for all track down the spot where the disease began and, if lucky enough, find a way to get rid of it and save Dr. McCoy from untimely death.

* * *

"Anything yet, Mr. Spock?" Scotty questioned, his arms behind his back and anxiously bobbing on his feet every so often.

"As of now, I find no medical files or cases satisfying our current situation. Schizophrenia and similar mental ailments have occurred within Starfleet for innumerable decades, now. However, only rare cases have found treatment successful." The Vulcan answered, swiveling the chair in the break room towards him.

"None of our records have any other information?"

"Negative, Mr. Scott. I have searched our ship's entire memory banks varying from medical journals to scientific theories regarding the human mind, and its ability to recover from brain trauma and/or a severe mental or neurological illness."

"Perhaps we look at Yonada medical databases. It is, after all, how we found the cure for Dr. McCoy's xenopolycythemia, sir."

"You make a logical statement, Mr. Scott. The chances of the Yonada medical databases holding some sort of valuable information to us and a similar kind of ailment to ours is quite possible."

"I usually hate asking for statistics, but given the circumstances, Mr. Spock, what are the chances of Yonada having information that could give us a possible treatment or cure for whatever this illness Dr. McCoy is suffering from are?"

"The chances of finding information from Yonada is roughly around a 67.426%."

"Is that good?"

"It is more than a 50-50 chance, Mr. Scott."

"Just making sure is all. Sometimes those percentages can mean different things in different situations."

"True, but I assure you in this particular situation, that percentage is fairly high."

Scotty nodded gently.

"What do yah think, Dr. McCoy?" The Scotsman asked.

No answer came.

He turned around to find the doctor gone. Scotty's eyes nearly fell out of his head, and he snapped his head back to Spock.

"He's gone!" He cried.

"Indeed," Spock said calmly.

"Where did he go?!"

As the Vulcan was about to answer, both men heard a blood curdling scream coming from outside in the hall. Spock and Scotty shot their heads towards the door, grabbed their phasers from their holsters, and hurried out of the break room to investigate.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Dr. McCoy ran through the halls, his eyes dilated, his skin full blown pale, and dark circles around his eyes. He looked as if he had not had any sleep in days. Like he had lost his mind and had snapped completely. He was giving blood curdling shrieks and kept screaming like someone was after him. The crew that passed by him stared at him or froze right in their tracks, trying to stay out of the man's sight. McCoy was blind mad.

"Kill him! Kill him! He's out to get us all! He'll kill this entire ship, murder him! Lock him up! Kill him!" He screeched.

Spock and Scotty came down the hall in the opposite direction, stopped and observed the scene, and stood in disbelief.

"Great Scot...he's gone blind mad." Scotty spoke barely. He was stunned, terrified, and worried ill of McCoy. His illness was progressing rapidly and at a much faster rate than it had affected the ones who suffered from it down below on Altius VII.

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow and watched the old doctor with a careful eye.

"Fascinating," he said.

"Mr. Spock, what do we do? We've got to get him to stop screaming and calm down," Scotty said with a quiver.

"Mr. Scott, first of all, do not panic. It is a simple matter of apprehending the doctor safely. I suggest that you gain his attention so that I may have the opportunity to conduct a Vulcan nerve pinch."

"Yah mean yer gonna go over there and attempt physical contact with a mentally unstable person?!"

"It is either that, or risk Dr. McCoy harming others on the ship or himself."

Scotty sighed and hung his head slightly.

"Alright, Mr. Spock. We'll try it your way."

Spock nodded, and made his way passed Dr. McCoy, as if he were on his way towards a meeting. Scotty took in a deep breath and made his way slowly and cautiously towards McCoy.

"Dr. McCoy!" The Scotsman called.

The old doctor snapped his attention towards him.

"Scotty, get lost! He'll come after you next!" He wailed.

"Who will?"

"There's a murderer on this ship! Get going, or he'll get you, too!"

"Dr. McCoy, there's no murderer on this ship, lad. Yer just hallucinatin' things. No one's after us."

"Where's Jim? Where's Spock?...Where's Julia?!"

"We're all fine, Dr. McCoy. We're all safe, nothing's harming us. Yah gotta snap out of it, Doctor."

While the exchange between CMO and CEO occurred, Spock slowly and silently made his way behind the doctor, his phaser in hand and on 'stun' as a safety precaution.

"Where are they? Where's my daughter? Where's Jim and Spock?!" McCoy ordered.

"They're all fine, Dr. McCoy, but yah've _got_ to calm down, lad!"

The Vulcan was in reaching distance, took his dominant hand, and pressed down on the back of McCoy's neck. The doctor cried out, then fell to the floor limp.

Once the McCoy had collapsed, Scotty hurried to Spock's side, and both examined the man. The Vulcan pulled out a medical tricorder and scanned the doctor's body and nervous system for any changes in patterns or bodily functions from the last time he had been examined.

Spock looked up to Scotty, then quickly back down at the tricorder in his hands.

"The gray matter in Dr. McCoy's brain is decreasing rapidly. It's almost over halfway depleted," he said.

"Can yah stop it from getting worse?" Scotty asked, a bit of anxiety in his voice.

"Negative, Mr. Scott. If we knew how to stop it from getting worse, the death rates on Altius VII would not be increasing in size currently."

"There's gotta be _something_ to help him, Mr. Spock. Just to give us more time to find a cure."

"Perhaps putting Dr. McCoy into a medically induced coma would slow the progression of the disease in the doctor's body. As what we've already seen, it's progressing much faster in him than the Altians."

"Is it because of the different body chemistry between us and them?"

"It's a logical assumption, but nothing can be confirmed of that, however. There could be many factors to why the disease is affecting Dr. McCoy quicker than with the Altians down below."

"I wonder how it would affect someone like a Vulcan such as yourself. Would you be able to stop it from affecting your brain so violently? I mean, you were able to fight off the pain and disease symptoms you experienced, when you were bit by that rogue neuron cell on Deneva."

"The only thing that will answer your question, Mr. Scott, is for me to fall ill with the disease currently affecting Dr. McCoy. One Starfleet officer being sick is enough already, would you not agree?"

"That leaves me with only one question, then, Mr. Spock?"

The Vulcan raised an eyebrow.

"What question might that be?"

"How much time do we have left?"

* * *

Kirk and Sulu made their way quickly to the signal the helmsman's tricorder was picking up on. Both were anxious and curious to figure out what this 'liquid substance' was, as Sulu put it.

The two Starfleet officers had made it to their destination, standing on a bridge, and were surprised to see that the source of this mysterious clear liquid was exiting out of a sewer drain and into a river filled of purplish pink water.

"I don't understand, Captain. How is the liquid coming out of the sewer drain going into a river that's purple, and not be purple itself?" Sulu asked, befuddled.

"Perhaps that mysterious liquid is the source of where this disease is coming from." Kirk suggested.

"As Mr. Spock would say it, it's quite a logical explanation."

"Come on, Mr. Sulu."

The two made their way off the bridge and closer to the sewer drain. Once getting there, Sulu knelt down on the ground and started scanning the clear water-like liquid, and Kirk took Julia out of the satchel and held her close to him. The young captain was hopeful this was the first lead to finding a cure for Dr. McCoy, save him from a brutal death, and save the thousands of people on Altius VII from such death, too.

The tricorder's readings started to come in, and Sulu's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Captain!" The helmsman gasped.

"What is it, Mr. Sulu?" Kirk asked, his adrenaline starting to run.

"This substance...it's dopamine."

"Dopamine! Explain."

"It's coming from somewhere into the sewer and entering out into the city's water supply...there also seems to be something with the water itself. Not only is dopamine entering it, but there seems to be some sort of bacteria living in it."

"Mr. Spock said the same thing, when he examined it. Does it say what kind of bacteria it is, Mr. Sulu?"

"Negative, Captain...but it seems to be affecting the dopamine neurotransmitters within the medicine itself. It's causing them to become mutated, and their duplicating themselves rapidly."

"We've gotta find a way to shut down this sewer drain...but how?"

"We could try blocking it with something, sir."

"I'm afraid of it having a chance and leaking through cracks."

"What if I went inside the drain, located where this dopamine is leaking from, and block it from there?"

"Absolutely not! I refuse to have another one of men become sick with this illness!"

"I'll be alright, Captain. The dopamine is not the cause. It's the bacteria in the water that's causing the illness."

Kirk was still uneasy about the idea.

"I'm coming with you," he said.

"What about little Julia, sir?"

Kirk looked down at the little baby in his arms. Julia looked up at him with her little blue eyes, her face looked like she was trying to figure out what was going on.

Getting an idea, he pulled out his communicator and contacted the ship.

"Kirk to Enterprise."

"Lieutenant Matthews speaking."

"Beam down an infant sized rain cap and jacket. Pink or something with flowers or ducks on it would be preferred by the little one."

"Aye, sir. Infant sized rain cap and jacket beaming down."

"Kirk out."

Putting the communicator back in it's holster, a tiny pink hat and a jacket with tiny pink flowers appeared lying in a soft patch of grass.

The captain picked them up and dressed Julia in it. Once her little face and body had been covered with protection, Kirk approached Sulu and nodded.

"Let's go, Mr. Sulu."

"Aye, sir."

The two of them stepped foot inside the sewer drain, Sulu took out a flashlight, and they began their trek hopefully towards the answer to their question.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

Spock sat at Dr. McCoy's computer in Sickbay going through endless medical journals and cases involving schizophrenia, psychology, and neurology medicine. Getting no where with Starfleet's databases, he decided to take another approach. He had been successful in finding a cure for xenopolycythemia, a disease that used to be terminal, looking through Yonada's medical databases. Perhaps they had some useful information for something similar to the Enterprise's current situation.

The Vulcan scanned through several medical journals and articles, until his eyes caught sight on something that grabbed his attention. He read through it more thoroughly and became highly intrigued with his findings.

"Fascinating," he said softly.

The doors to the room with bio beds inside opened, and Scotty emerged with a grim, tired look on his face.

Spock looked up from the computer screen and quickly detected the Chief Engineer's feelings of sorrow and anxiety.

"Your facial expression shows worry and helplessness, Mr. Scott." The Vulcan spoke.

"They've got Dr. McCoy in a medically induced coma. They did a brain scan on him, and the gray matter to his brain is almost three-fourths of the way gone...Dr. M'Benga and Nurse Chapel are not sure if they can help him, now," Scotty said, his mind lost of any ideas of what to do. Losing Dr. McCoy would not only hurt him, but Spock and Kirk, Julia, the entire _ship_ will be at a loss without him.

"Perhaps that might not be the case, Mr. Scott."

Scotty looked up at Spock, his eyebrows knitted together in suspiciousness.

"What do yah mean 'perhaps not'?" He questioned carefully.

"I have been reading through Yonada's medical databases and have come across something highly enthralling."

"Such as?"

"According to their medical history, a disease similar to the one Dr. McCoy and the Altians are suffering from now, was identified as neurosispsychotyka vesania."

"Neura _who_?"

"Neurosispsychotyka vesania. It was a viral infection caused by the now extinct virus, excerebro meteorus, that killed off nearly 41.2 million citizens on Yonada approximately four of your earth years ago."

"How does that help us, Mr. Spock? The illness were dealin' with now is bacterial, not viral! And how can a virus become extinct? Isn't that, how you would say, logically impossible?"

"In usual circumstances, correct. However, the disease spread so rapidly, that extinction of the virus was necessary to stop the illness from causing more infections and casualties to Yonada's population. Very similar process that smallpox went through on earth, but much quicker."

"What did this infection do, then? And how did they get rid of it?"

"Like the illness that is killing the Altians and Dr. McCoy, it disrupted the production of healthy dopamine neurotransmitters and began to rapidly be emitted into the brain. It caused mass insanity, the destruction of brain tissue in vast amounts with each episode of psychosis, and eventually caused severe pain throughout the patient's entire body, that it sent them into a coma, caused acute cases of cardiac arrest, and died from heart failure."

"My God! That sounds as bad as what Dr. McCoy's suffering from! Maybe even worse!"

"Yes, indeed, Mr. Scott. Soon after the virus spread so far around the planet, a Fabrinian neurosurgeon by the name of Dr. Kovarro developed a intravenous medicine to cause the process of enzyme degradation to occur."

"Mr. Spock, I'm an engineer, not a doctor. What in dear Heaven's name does _that_ mean?"

"Enzyme degradation is the process of killing excess chemicals in the body that are causing serious medical concerns to a living organism. The medicine Dr. Kovarro developed was able to kill the extra and mutated dopamine neurotransmitters and the virus itself in the ailing patients. Many were saved because of Kovarro's discovery."

"That takes care of the virus, what about the deteriorated gray matter?"

"There's a minor operation Kovarro performed. He used a special type of medicine that is found in a floral plant found on Thalaius II to help regenerate the brain's gray matter. He was successful in curing 88.67% of those who were ailing and had not already succumbed to the virus."

Scotty swallowed a lump in his throat, his skin starting to fade color a bit.

"What about the other 11%? What happened to them?"

"The other 11.33% were either left mentally unstable or died in the process of being cured."

"Yah think the same procedure would cure Dr. McCoy and the Altians?"

"As you would say it, Mr. Scott, it's a chance we will have to take."

The Engineer let out an uneasy breath of air and trusted the Vulcan with everything he had been told by him.

"Do we even have those medicines on the ship?" Scotty asked.

"The medicine used to cause enzyme degradation to happen can be made with several of the medicines here in Sickbay. As for the one to treat the deteriorating gray matter within the Doctor's brain, the plant needed to extract the chemicals for the drug can be found in the science lab. I will take one that has yet to go under experimentation and create the correct pharmaceutical to use in the surgery needed to regenerate lost gray matter," Spock said.

"I understood absolutely nothing yah said, Mr. Spock, but I will do as you tell me, sir."

Spock got to his feet, and he and Scotty hurried to the medicine lab in Sickbay. Once reaching their destination, both men got to work in making the possible answer to saving McCoy and the millions of Altians dying from the current incurable disease.

* * *

Kirk, holding little Julia in his arms, and Sulu continued making their way deeper into the sewer drain, hoping they would find the source of where the dopamine drug was coming from and figure out a way to stop it from depositing anymore into the Altians water supply.

The two men had been walking for about two hours now down the dark sewage drain and so far, had come up empty handed. They found more dopamine spilling out into the water, but as for its location, that answer remained uncovered.

"At this rate, we'll find out where this dopamine's coming from when I'm forty." Kirk grumbled. He was growing agitated with coming out empty handed after every turn and road they took to finding an answer for the illness that was killing millions of Altians and that was now killing his best friend and the best dog gone Chief Medical Officer he's ever had. McCoy had been there and pulled through for him whenever the captain needed him. He could not let McCoy down this time, when it was the doctor that needed him now. There was just too much at stake for all of them: a fellow member of Starfleet, a talented and knowledgeable doctor, an innocent little girl needing her father...there was more reasons Kirk could think of, but he did not have time to list them all. He needed to keep going and find out where this dopamine was coming from as quickly as possible.

"We'll find it, Captain. Dr. McCoy is strong; he can hold on for just a little longer," Sulu said, comforting.

"A _little_ is what I'm worried about." Kirk answered.

"As stubborn as that man can be, you shouldn't be too worried, Captain. He won't die without a good fight."

The young Starfleet captain knew his helmsman was trying to make him feel better. He appreciated the effort, but he would not be settled until he knew McCoy would make a full recovery and survive the bacterial devil that was slowly killing him. The illness that was driving him to become blinded with madness and complete insanity. He only could hope that Spock and Scotty were having better luck than he was, momentarily.

The two continued walking down the dark tunnel, when Julia started making soft coo noises. Kirk looked down to see what was wrong, and found the little girl underneath something that was leaking down onto her rain hat. Julia scrunched her eyes together and grimaced each time a drop fell onto her little head.

Curious, Kirk lifted his eyes to where the drops were coming from and saw that there was a crack in the ceiling of the sewage drain. Seeping through the crack, tiny droplets of what had the appearance of water was dripping onto little Julia's head.

The captain moved Julia out of the way, stepped to the side, and continued observing what was happening above him.

"Mr. Sulu," Kirk said.

The helmsman stopped in his tracks, turned to face his commander, and flashed the flashlight on him to see where he was.

"There appears to be a leak coming through the sewage drain. It looks like the dopamine running through here."

"Surely that's not big enough to be causing the spill. This stream of dopamine looks like it goes for another couple miles down."

"Perhaps we have found a shortcut to our answer, Mr. Sulu."

"You think this tiny little crack with a leak is a shortcut to where this dopamine spill is coming from?"

"Only one way to find out."

"Aye, Captain. I'll make a hole around the crack big enough for us to escape from."

Kirk took a few steps in front of Sulu, then turned around and watched the Japanese helmsman get to work. It was at that moment that Julia decided to make a few noises again and wiggled her tiny feet. Kirk looked down and gave the little baby a hopeful smile.

"We might have finally found it, Miss McCoy. Then we can finally abandon this dump," he said friendly.

Julia gave a smile and continued wiggling her feet and watched Mr. Sulu use his phaser in one hand and holding his flashlight in the other.

Sulu made a quick judgment on where the best place to carve an exit around the leak. Once thoroughly planned out, he took his phaser and made a big circle in the ceiling all while standing out of the way at an angle.

The phaser beam cut through the heavy metal tunnel and soon a huge metal circle clanged onto the sewer drain floor and a rush of liquid, assumed to be dopamine, fell through the hole in the ceiling. The loud 'bang' stunned Kirk and Julia for a moment, then turned to the helmsman.

"Good work, Mr. Sulu," the captain said.

"Thank you, Captain."

"Now the question is how do we get out?"

Sulu put his phaser back in its holster, put the flashlight back in its place on his belt, and again examined the hole now above the three of them. After a minute of just staring up, Sulu took his communicator and handed it to Kirk. Once sure his commander had a hold of his communication device, the helmsman grabbed a hold of the hole with his hands, closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, then pulled himself through.

Sulu got on top of the sewer drain, stood to his feet, and wiped the dopamine off of his face. He looked back down in the hole.

"Captain, there's a river of this stuff up here." He cried.

"Is it safe to walk in up there, Mr. Sulu?" Kirk asked, from below.

"From what it appears to be, yes. Your socks, boots, and the bottom of your pants will get a little wet, though. This river is almost clear up to my shins, Captain."

Kirk used Sulu's communicator and came into contact with the Enterprise.

"Kirk to Enterprise."

"Yes, Captain. I'm listening," Lieutenant Matthews said.

"Beam me up on top of this sewer drain Mr. Sulu and I are currently investigating. We might have a lead on where this dopamine is coming from."

"Aye, Captain."

Within a few moments, Kirk and Julia had rematerialized on top of the sewer drain next to Sulu. Kirk handed his lieutenant back his communicator and looked ahead of them.

"Well, Captain," the helmsman said. "Where do we go from here?"

"Straight, Mr. Sulu."

The two Starfleet officers started their walk on top of the sewer drain and continued on with their assignment. Their only hope was that Spock and Scotty were having more luck than they were.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Three hours went by, and after trial and error, Spock and Scotty had finally formed the right medicine that had been used on Yonada's epidemic outbreak. A hypospray formed from several chemicals and medicines that would be strong enough to go through Dr. McCoy's entire nervous system and kill any mutated dopamine neurotransmitters and help form new, healthy ones. The other in a type of spray bottle would be used in the minor operation on the country doctor's brain to help repair the deteriorated and dying gray matter. If successful, Dr. McCoy's gray matter would regenerate fairly quickly and the mutated dopamine neurotransmitters would be rid of within the next 72 hours after treatment.

Spock picked both medicines up to show Scotty. The Scotsman looked at them for a moment, then turned his head to his commanding officer. Hope and fear were visible in his eyes. He swallowed a knot in his throat before speaking.

"Yah sure this'll work, Mr. Spock?"

"It is the only thing known to be successful, Mr. Scott. If we were to sit here, analyze the water from the Altians water supply in the Bio Lab, and attempt to make a medicine of our own, Dr. McCoy and many more Altians will have succumbed to the illness."

"What if it doesn't work? What then?"

Spock did not answer. He was as clueless as the engineering officer himself as what to do if this method failed.

"I can not answer that question, Mr. Scott."

Scotty swallowed again, then nodded.

"Aye, Mr. Spock...let's just hope it works."

The Vulcan nodded and followed Scotty to the room filled with several bio beds. The first bed nearest to the right wall was occupied by a comatosed Dr. McCoy, and the current CMO, Dr. Geoffrey M'Benga was hovering over his boss taking his vital readings. Dr. McCoy was in his Starfleet uniform, laying on top of the bed covers.

"How is he, Dr. M'Benga?" Scotty asked softly.

The young doctor turned the CEO and sighed heavily.

"His gray matter is decreasing rapidly. His brain is beyond active, even in his comatose state. It's like he's suffering psychosis regardless how conscious he is."

"How much longer does he have, Dr. M'Benga?"

M'Benga shook his head.

"There _is_ no longer. If he wants a chance at surviving, he needs immediate medical attention as soon as possible. Anymore gray matter loss, and his condition will be fatal."

"While you were examining Dr. McCoy, Doctor, I discovered a treatment for a similar disease that killed off several civilians on Yonada a few years ago. The hypospray I have here is to cause enzyme degradation to occur and kill the mutated dopamine neurotransmitters infected Dr. McCoy's nervous system." Spock commented.

"The disease you speak of may have been similar, but will it work is the question." M'Benga stated.

"Dr. McCoy would want yah to try, Dr. M'Benga. He never turned down a medicine that hadn't been tried on any of his patients, he wouldn't want us to do the same," Scotty said quietly.

The young doctor let out a heavy breath and nodded.

"Where do I inject the hypospray, Mr. Spock?" He asked.

"Above the right arm near the joint connecting the arm to the shoulder," Spock said. "After you have done so, it is urgent you rush Dr. McCoy into surgery."

Finished with the hypospray, M'Benga turned his head quickly towards the Vulcan.

"Surgery! Mr. Spock, what am I supposed to do in surgery?" He gasped.

"There is a minor operation needed to be done on the Doctor's brain in order to recover the deteriorated gray matter. You are to use this spray bottle to spray the brain in one thin layer of the chemical inside here. Once that has been achieved, Dr. McCoy's gray matter should quickly repair itself and terminate any mutated neurotransmitters still infecting what's left in Dr. McCoy's cerebral cortex and hemispheres."

Scotty stood there in silence, trying to comprehend what was being exchanged between the current CMO and second in command of the ship. Whatever it was medical wise that the two were discussing, he did not understand a single word of it.

"Is it safe after injecting that hypospray into him?" M'Benga asked, concerned.

"It is much safer than to risk waiting for 72 hours for the medicine to take full effect. By then, Dr. McCoy will die regardless." Spock answered.

M'Benga nodded softly.

"I will prep him for surgery at once," he said.

"Do yah think he'll make it, Doctor?" Scotty asked, worried.

"If Dr. McCoy makes it, Mr. Scott, it'll be a blessing."

* * *

"A chemical spill?!" The man behind the counter gasped.

Kirk and Sulu had tracked down the source to be coming from a medical pharmacy's water line and leaking into the city's river. The company was pouring the dopamine medicine down the drains, thus contaminating the water once in contact. The dopamine was not the problem. The bacteria in the water was not the problem. It was the two _together_ that was the problem.

The doctor they were currently speaking with could not have been more than 26 to 27 years old. He had dark brown hair, clear skin, and deep blue eyes that resembled an ocean back on Earth.

"Were you or not aware of this contamination going on to your city's water supply?" Kirk demanded an answer.

"I knew people were getting sick, but I didn't know why. Believe me, Captain Kirk, I had no knowledge of a dopamine spill causing the illness!" The young man pleaded.

"Do you realize one of my men, my Chief Medical Officer, is dying from said disease because of taste testing your city's water? I could have you charged for manslaughter of fellow a Starfleet surgeon. The Federation of Planets can have your company sued and/or arrested for several that have died already from this epidemic you and your fellow colleagues have caused!"

"Captain Kirk, I didn't _know_ this was happening! Had I'd known, I would have taken it up with my manager immediately!"

"Premeditated murder, careless behavior and handling of dangerous chemicals, poisoning public water supply, the list goes on, Dr. Vishiall."

"Please, Captain...I don't wanna go to prison, _please_ , Captain Kirk!" Vishiall begged. "I'll do whatever you want, just don't send me to prison!"

"You can start by turning off your sewer pipes and discontinue dumping dopamine down your sink drains. I will speak with the head of this company and Starfleet Command of what further penalties may be."

"Yes, Captain. I'll do that right away, sir!"

Vishiall ran into the back of the store to speak with his fellow colleagues about the matter, and Kirk and Sulu turned their backs to the cash register desk. The captain fell dead silent, and Sulu could notice something troubling his commander.

"It'll be alright, Captain," the lieutenant said, giving a small smile.

"I'm worried about Dr. McCoy. It's been over six hours, now, and I have yet to hear anything from Mr. Spock or Lieutenant Commander Scott."

"Mr. Scott and Mr. Spock are intelligent men, Captain. I'm sure they're working on a cure right now as we speak."

As Kirk was about to comment, his communicator beeped. Someone from the Enterprise was trying to contact him. Was it Spock? Scotty? Had something happened to Dr. McCoy? He needed answers.

His hand trembling, he grabbed his communicator and flipped it open. Julia had must have sensed the captain growing anxious, because she had started to frown and looked like she was about to cry in his arms.

"Kirk here," he said with hesitance.

"Captain, it's Spock, here." The Vulcan's voice came over.

The captain grew tense.

"Mr. Spock, what's wrong? What happened to Dr. McCoy?" He ordered, his voice shaking.

"Mr. Scott and I have discovered in Yonada's medical databases that they suffered from a serious viral illness, neurosispsychotyka vesania, close in comparison to the bacterial one the Altians are facing currently. They were able to find a cure for the degenerating gray matter and to degradate the mutated dopamine neurotransmitters."

"Does that help us, Spock?"

"Seeing it was successful in curing most of the population ailing from the virus and eventually caused the virus to go into extinction, Mr. Scott, Dr. M'Benga, and I decided to see if these said procedures would have any effect on Dr. McCoy."

Kirk swallowed.

"And?" He asked.

Scotty was grinning from ear to ear in Sickbay.

"He'll have to stay a few days in Sickbay until the medicine clears out all of the mutations and bacteria, but he's gonna make it, Captain," the Scotsman said.

"The operation performed on Dr. McCoy has regenerated most of his gray matter at a rapid rate, expected to return to normal, healthy state within by tomorrow evening, Captain. The medicine causing enzyme degradation on the mutated dopamine transmitters shall have complete its course within the next 48-72 hours." Spock added.

"And Bones, Spock. How is he?" Kirk asked.

Lying in his bio bed, a familiar country doctor chuckled softly.

"Can read yah loud and clear, Jim," he said, grinning.

Kirk's face was beaming like a ray of sunshine.

"Mr. Spock, you and Scotty just earned your paychecks for the next six months!" He praised.

"Not necessary, Captain. We're just glad to have Dr. McCoy back," Scotty said.

The captain was about to speak again, when Julia started crying. Kirk looked at her, smiled, then turned his head back to the communicator.

"Scotty, beam up a party of three. A little lady here would like to see her father," he said.

"Oh, Captain, I'd be _honored_ to." Scotty answered.

The Engineer got to his feet, hurried out of Sickbay, and proceeded to make his way to one of the transportation rooms.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Well, here it is. The last chapter to my 'Star Trek' story. Thank you to everyone who has read this and reviewed it. I love and appreciate all the feedback I get! Keep it up! New reviews are fun to read! :D

* * *

 **Chapter 10:**

Dr. McCoy was back up on his feet within a few days after treatment for his illness. Action had been taken quickly by several medics, and Sickbay had beamed down to Altius VII to treat those who were ailing from the disease. So far, most cases were showing success in the medicine and surgery.

On the Bridge, Captain Kirk sat in his chair surrounded by Spock, McCoy holding little Julia, and Scotty glaring at the screen before him. He was in contact with the CEO of the pharmaceutical company that had been responsible for the spill of dopamine into the city's water supply.

The man was named Mr. Nathukarrah. He had grayish black hair and a bushy beard and mustache that was gray. His eyes were dark brown and had wrinkles in his face. He looked uncooperative and censorious.

"Captain Kirk, these accusations you are making towards me and my company are unjustified, highly repugnant, and absolutely outrageous!" Nathukarrah testified harshly.

"Mr. Nathukarrah, do you realize your company is responsible for over 2 million of your colony's deaths. Your dopamine spill has poisoned your city's water, infected the health status of that water, and have caused infection of over 300,000 people on your planet's population and counting."

"This is no matter to you or your affiliations, Captain. This is a private company, and we have the right to not comply to your needs."

"Criminal negligence, endangerment of Federation citizens, crimes against the environment, poisoning of public water supply, the near death of my Senior Medical Officer, the deaths of your own people, I can have you charged and penalized for murder and attempted murder! The Federation of Planets can have your company sued and shut down, Mr. Nathukarrah! This involves my affiliations quite well!"

Nathukarrah glared at Kirk, then turned his attention to the three men surrounding him. McCoy, Spock, and Scotty were all watching him carefully. Both Scotty and McCoy were glaring coldly at the CEO, and Spock looked at him with a blank, unamused facial expression.

The CEO growled roughly under his breath.

"Fine. We will pay for sanitation of the city's water." He grumbled.

"You will also pay a fine that will be established by Starfleet Command." Kirk continued.

Nathukarrah growled again.

"Fine...good day, Captain."

With that, Nathukarrah flicked the switch on his board panel and ended communications with the ship.

Kirk turned off the channel frequency, then he swiveled in his chair to face his three friends.

"Hopefully, this will be the start to helping the Altians get back on their feet and recover from this epidemic that has taken a toll on so many lives already," he said.

"Aye, Captain. We were lucky enough to save Dr. McCoy from dying...I just feel bad for those other lives that were lost." Scotty spoke softly.

"Indeed, Mr. Scott. This whole incident could have been avoided had proper care of disposal been taken of the dopamine that spilled into the city's river." Spock commented.

"I just wonder why that bacteria in their water connected with the medicine and reacted in the way that it did, though."

Kirk turned to his CMO.

"Bones, you're the medical professional on this ship. What do you think?" He asked.

McCoy pursed his lips and tried to think of an answer. He had never heard of such a case before. When he had woke up from his operation a few days back and was finally able to comprehend what was going on around him, Spock and Scotty had informed him on what was the cause of the illness and how it had got into the water. He was both curious and confused on the matter. He did not know such disease could form and develop in such conditions.

Julia made some soft 'coo' noises, while her father thought a bit more.

"I couldn't tell yah exactly, Jim. There must have been a chemical compound within the dopamine medicine that the bacteria in the water found peculiar, infected the neurotransmitters within the medicine, and caused the mutation to occur. I would need a sample of the water, however, to give you an exact answer," the old medic said.

Julia made some more 'coo' noises, causing her father, Spock, Scotty, and Kirk to all turn to look at her. Besides the Vulcan, all of them smiled and chuckled.

"What, you got something to say on the matter? Huh?" McCoy cooed.

"What do _you_ think, little lass?" Scotty asked.

The little baby chewed on her fingers and smiled. She babbled a little more afterwards.

Kirk smirked.

"A future medic in the making, I would say."

McCoy looked back down at his daughter, smiled, then gave her a little kiss on the head and leaned his head against hers gently.

The young captain turned back to look at Sulu and Chekov, who were sitting at the control panel at the front of the Bridge's screen.

"Mr. Sulu, warp factor 2."


End file.
